British police have said they broke up a wedding with almost 400 guests in violation of Covid lockdown rules, which only allow six people to attend. Weddings are currently supposed to take place only under “exceptional circumstances”.

However, officers found hundreds of people gathering in Stamford Hill, in north London, with the windows covered to stop people seeing inside. The organiser of the wedding could now be fined up to 10,000 pounds, and five others were issued 200-pound penalties.

“This was a completely unacceptable breach of the law,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnett. “People across the country are making sacrifices by cancelling or postponing weddings and other celebrations and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour.”